Case 2:20-cv-00884-SPL Document 27 Filed 09/03/20 Page 1 of 9
JACK SIEGEL Texas Bar No. 24070621 SIEGEL LAW GROUP PLLC 4925 Greenville, Suite 600 Dallas, TX 75206 Telephone: (214) 790-4454 Email: Jack@siegellawgroup.biz Admitted Pro Hac Vice IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF ARIZONA Tina Weeks, Michael McDonald, and Cassandra Magdaleno, individually and on behalf of others similarly situated, Plaintiff, v. Matrix Absence Management, Inc., an Arizona Company, Defendant.
Civil Action No. 2:20-cv-00884-SPL DECLARATION OF JACK SIEGEL IN SUPPORT OF PLAINTIFFS’ MOTION FOR STEP ONENOTICE PURSUANT TO THE FAIR LABOR STANDARDS ACT
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1.
My name is Jack Siegel. I am an attorney with The Siegel Law Group PLLC. I
am counsel of record for Plaintiffs in this matter. I make this declaration based on my own personal knowledge. 2. Attached are true and correct copies of the following exhibits: Exhibit A: Exhibit B: Exhibit C: Exhibit D: Exhibit E: Exhibit F: Exhibit G: Exhibit H: Exhibit I: Exhibit J: Exhibit K: Exhibit L: Exhibit M: Exhibit N: Exhibit O: Exhibit P: Exhibit Q: Exhibit R: Exhibit S: 3.
Declaration of Amanda Wright Declaration of Cassandra Magdaleno Declaration of Collette Cokley Declaration of Jennifer Hassell Declaration of Jessie Sanchez Declaration of Kimberly Green Declaration of Maggie Berg Declaration of Mary Floyd Declaration of Michael McDonald Declaration of Tina Weeks Declaration of Sandra Matos Job Descriptions for Claims Examination Employee Positions Matrix’s Answers in ERISA cases in which it was named a Defendant Sample Administrative Service Agreements Identifying Matrix as Claims Administrator or Plan Administrator filed in ERISA cases involving Matrix Proposed Notice & Consent Form NAIC Company & Licensing Search for Matrix NAIC Company & Licensing Search for Reliance Standard Life Insurance Company (“Reliance Standard”) NAIC Consumer Insurance for Matrix and Reliance Reliance Standards’ Annual State for the Year Ended December 31, 2019 filed with the National Association of Insurance Commissioners
I have reviewed the declarations submitted as Exhibits A-K. The Claims
Examiner (“CE”) declarants in Exhibits A-K identify the following specific job titles that they assert Matrix used interchangeably to refer to them during respective periods of employment:
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Ex ¶ Interchangeable Labels Used to Refer to IRE Declarants A 5 Claims Examiner, AMS Claims Examiner, AMS Claims Examiner II, Absence Management Specialist, and Integrated Claims Examiner. B 5 FMLA Claims Examiner, FMLA Claims Examiner II, FMLA/LOA Claims Examiner and Claims Examiner. C 5 Claims Examiner, Absence Management, and AMS Claims Examiner. D 5 AMS Claims Examiner, Integrated Claims Examiner, and Absence Management Specialist. E 5 Absence Management Specialist, AMS Claims Examiner, and Claims Examiner. F 5 Integrated Claims Examiner, Integrated Claims Examiner II, AMS Claims Examiner, and Claims Examiner. G 5 Claims Examiner, Claims Examiner I, Claims Examiner II, and Senior Claims Examiner. H 5 Absence Management Specialist, Absence Management Specialist 2, and AMS Claims Examiner. I 5 Integrated Claims Examiner, Absence Management Specialist, and AMS Claims Examiner. J 5 LTD Claims Examiner, Integrated LTD Claims Examiner, Integrated Claims Examiner, and Claims Examiner. K 5 Claims Examiner, Absence Management Specialist, AMS Claims Examiner 4.
I have reviewed Exhibit L and compiled the job titles used in those job
descriptions to refer to positions held by CEEs. The compiled job titles include the following: Pages 1-4, 28-30 5-7, 11-13 8 9-10 14-18 19, 21 20, 22-24 25, 27 26
Interchangeable Labels Used to Refer to IRE Positions Absence Management Specialist Claims Examiner Claims Examiner I, LOA/FMLA; Claims Examiner Claims Examiner I, LOA/FMLA; and Claims Examiner-LOA Claims Examiner I, AMS; and Claims Examiner I, AMS (Absence Management Specialist) Claims Examiner, Short Term Disability Claims Examiner I, STD Integrated Claims Examiner (STD) Integrated Claims Examiner (LOA/FMLA)
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5.
I have reviewed the declarations and job descriptions provided in Exhibits A-
L. These declarations and job descriptions identify all of the following job titles (collectively referred to in this briefing as (“CEE Job Titles”) used by Matrix to refer to CEEs: Absence Management Specialist; Absence Management Specialist II; AMS Claims Examiner; AMS Claims Examiner II; Claims Examiner; Claims Examiner I, AMS; Claims Examiner I, LOA/FMLA; Claims Examiner I, STD, Senior Claims Examiner; Claims Examiner II; Long Term Disability Examiner; Claims Examiner, Short Term Disability; Disability Claims Examiner; FMLA Claims Examiner; FMLA Claims Examiner II; FMLA/LOA Claims Examiner; Integrated Claims Examiner; Integrated Claims Examiner (LOA/FMLA); Integrated Claims Examiner (STD); Integrated Claims Examiner II; Integrated LTD Claims Examiner; LTD Claims Examiner (collectively, “CEE Job Titles”).1 6.
Exhibit M contains answers filed by Matrix in ERISA lawsuits alleging that
Defendant wrongfully denied claims of plan beneficiaries in cases where Matrix was contracted as the third-party “claims administrator” to process claims for the respective plans: P. 1-5
Case Grad v. Abbot Laboratories, No. 2:14-cv-1458, ECF 6 (S.D. Ohio Nov. 10, 2014). 6-8 O’Kelly v. The Federal Reserve Sys., No. 5:19-cv-2285 (N.D. Ohio Dec. 16, 2019) 9-19 Witana v. Matrix Absence Management, Inc., No. 5:20-cv-1860 (N.D. Cal. May 8, 2020) 20-28 Davidson v. Matrix Absence 1
Text P. Defendants admit that Matrix is the claims 1 administrator for the Abbott Laboratories Extended Disability Plan (“EDP”) and that Plaintiff made a claim under the EDP.
¶ 1
Defendants… admit that Matrix performs certain 6 claims administration duties on behalf of the plan.
2
[Matrix] admits it was the claims administrator 11 for the AutoNation’s self-funded short-term disability plan.
8, 10
[Matrix] admits only that it provides certain claim 21 administrative services with respect to the
3-6
Ex. A-J, ¶ 3; Grp. Ex. K, pp. 1-32.
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Management, Inc., No. 3:15-cv-495 (E.D. Va. Oct. 16, 2015)
29-37 Dooley v. Matrix Absence Management, Inc., No. 1:14-cv-2 (N.D. W. Va. April 15, 2014)
29-37 Dooley v. Matrix Absence Management, Inc., No. 1:14-cv-2 (N.D. W. Va. April 15, 2014)
7.
Plan…. [Matrix] further admits that it provides certain claim administrative services with respect to the Plan…. [Matrix] admits that the Plan provides long term disability benefits for eligible employees of the Federal Reserve System. [Matrix] specifically denies that it is the plan sponsor or plan administrator with respect to the Plan. Further, Defendant specifically denies that it funds or insures the Plan…. Matrix admits … that it is the third-party claim 30, 4, 10administrator for the STD Plan…. Matrix admits 31 11, 16; that it denied Plaintiff’s claim for STD benefits as set forth in… the Complaint…. Plaintiff is only entitled to STD benefits if she meets the terms and conditions of the STD Plan. Inasmuch as Plaintiff failed to do so, Matrix was not obligated to provide Plaintiff with benefits of any kind. The decision to deny STD benefits to Plaintiff 34, Aff. D. was pursuant to and consistent with the terms of 35 3, 4, 5 the STD Plan and relied upon the information available at the time of the decision…. Plaintiff does not meet the eligibility requirements of the STD Plan…. Matrix at all times acted in good faith and in the interest of the STD Plan’s participants and beneficiaries.
Exhibit N contains third party service agreements entered into between Matrix
and its customers, which were found searching publicly available court dockets. I specifically searched for cases involving allegations that Matrix or its customers violated ERISA by improperly denying disability or leave claims. 8.
I conducted a search of company and licensing records for Reliance Standard
Life Insurance Company (“Reliance Standard”) and Defendant using the National Association of Insurance Commissioners’ (“NAIC”) multistate search, which can be found at sbs.naic.org/solar-external-lookup/ (“Multistate NAIC Search Website”) I initially accessed
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this
search
though
the
Arizona
Department
of
Insurance’s
website
at
insurance.az.gov/license-search, which provided that I could view the license information and associated company information for insurance companies, life and health administrators, and other types of entities authorized to operate in Arizona. I then conducted “Licensee” and “Company” searches for both Reliance Standard and Matrix using the Multistate NAIC Search Website for all states in which the information was available, which included Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Iowa, Illinois, Maryland, Missouri, Montana, North Dakota, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Oregon, Rhode Island, South Carolina, West Virginia, and Wisconsin (“States”). Exhibit P contains the search results of the Multistate NAIC Search website for Matrix. The results of those search are summarized below: P. 1 2-3 4-5 6-7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 1819
State Licensee Look Up Search Result AL Adjuster AK Independent Adjuster; Third-Party Administrator AZ Adjuster AR Adjuster; Third Party Administrator IA Third Party Administrator IL Third Party Administrator MD Third Party Administrator DE Adjuster MO Third Party Administrator (Ch. 376.1075 – 376.1095 RSMo) MT None Available. ND Third Party Administrator NE None Available NH None Available NM OK
Third Party Administrator Adjuster
Company Lookup Result None Available None Available
Search NAIC Code None None
Life & Health Administrator None Available
None None
None Available None Available None Available None Available None Available
None None None None None
Third Party Administrator None Available. Third Party Administrators Third Party AdministratorLicensed None Available Third Party Administrator
None None None None None None
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20
OR
21
RI
2223 24
SC
25
WV
WI
9.
Adjuster; Third-Party None Available Administrator Company/Independent None Available Adjuster Third Party Administrator None Available
None
Employee Benefit Administrator None Available
None
None None
Plan None Available Third Party (non-resident)
Administrator None
Exhibit Q contains the search results of the Multistate NAIC Search Website
for Reliance. The results of those searches are summarized below: P. 1 2 3-4 5-6 7 8 9-10 1112 1314 15 16 17 18 19 2021 22 2324
State Licensee Look Up Search Result AL None Available AR None Available AZ None Available DE None Available IL None Available MO None Available MT None Available ND None Available
Company Lookup Search Result
NAIC Code
Life and Health Life and Disability Life & Disability Insurer Life & Health Life, Accident & Health Life and health (Ch. 376 & 377, RSMo) Life & Disability Insurer Life
68381 68381 68381 68381 68381 68381 68381 68381
NE
None Available
Life & Health
68381
NH NM OK OR RI SC
None Available. None Available None Available None Available None Available None Available
Life, Accident & Health Insurance Company Life Life, Accident & Health Life Life
68381 68381 68381 68381 68381 68381
WI WV
None Available None Available
Life, Accident & Health Life
68381 68381
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10.
I also conducted a search for Matrix and Reliance using the NAIC’s Consumer
Insurance Search (CIS) found at content.naic.org/cis_consumer_information.htm. The CIS search page indicates to “please contact the insurance department where you live” if you were unable to find a company using the CIS company search.” The results of the CIS searches for Matrix and Reliance are attached as Exhibit R. The search reports generated from the CIS searches reflect data reported from the respective state insurance departments as of August 12, 2020. When I inputted a search for Matrix, the search mechanism indicated “No Company Results.” When I inputted a search for Reliance, the came up with three search results and I selected the search result for Reliance with NAIC Code 68631. I then generated a licensing report for Reliance, which is the third document in Exhibit R. The licensing report reflects that Reliance is licensed to sell insurance in every state in the country other than New York. 11.
Exhibit S contains an excerpt from Reliance Standard’s Annual State for the
Year Ended December 31, 2019 filed with the NAISD. A complete copy of this 880-page document
can
be
found
by
visiting
Reliance
Standards
website
at
https://www.reliancestandard.com/home/about-us/financial-highlights. 12.
I declare under penalty of perjury under the laws of the United States of
America that the foregoing is true and correct.
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Executed on September 2, 2020, in Dallas, Texas. THE SIEGEL LAW GROUP PLLC By: /s/ Jack Siegel JACK SIEGEL State Bar No. 24070621 SIEGEL LAW GROUP PLLC 4925 Greenville, Suite 600 (214) 790-4454 Jack@siegellawgroup.biz Attorneys for Plaintiffs and those similarly situated CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE I hereby certify that I filed this document on August 14, 2020, and that notice of this filing will be distributed to all counsel of record through the District’s ECF system. At the time of service, I was over 18 years of age and employed in the County of Dallas, State of Texas. My business address is 4925 Greenville, Suite 600, Dallas, Texas 75206. /s/ Jack Siegel Jack Siegel